The present invention relates to a snow plow assembly suitable for use with a wheeled vehicle such as a truck or an automobile.
Many different types of snow plows are known in the prior art. Conventional plows include a blade and a frame for coupling the blade to the front of the vehicle. More sophisticated plows also include means for adjusting the angular orientation of the plow blade relative to the longitudinal axis of the vehicle for elevating the plow blade relative to the road surface to permit the vehicle to be driven from one location to another.
More sophisticated plows also include means for adjusting the angular orientation of the plow blade relative to the longitudinal axis of the vehicle so as to push the snow left or right as the vehicle traverses the surface being cleared of snow. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,439,939 to Blau; 5,018,284 to Mikami; 5,193,296 to Reilley; and 5,638,618 to Niemela et al. are illustrative of the various types of snow plows known in the prior art.
One of the deficiencies of prior art snow plows is that when turning, the paths of the snow plow and the tires are different. FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate a vehicle 10 have a prior art arrangement for mounting a snow plow 12 to the front of the vehicle. The mounting arrangement includes a V-shaped support member 16 mounted to the front of the vehicle and pivotally mounted to the rear of the snow plow 12. The arrangement further includes two piston-cylinder units 18 and 20, each pivotally mounted to and extending between the snow plow 12 and the V-shaped member 16. As can be seen in FIG. 1, the tires 14 do not follow the plow path when turning. As a result, the snow is not effectively cleared from both the surface and the front of the vehicle. Yet another problem with the prior art designs is that the snow plows have a limited range of motion with respect to the center line of the vehicle.
It is the aim of the present invention to overcome these deficiencies.